The Horror, the Horror!
Sep. 19th, 2005 12:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythHorror movies don't do much for me these days. I've never really liked them, to be honest. When I was a kid, it was because I had a hyperactive imagination and would scare the crap out of myself after watching one. Which I suppose left me two options, 1: don't watch them, 2: watch them until they stopped scaring me. I went with 1. And it held over as a habit for quite a long time. Until a few years ago, when I ended up watching horror movies with a couple different people.
But, honestly, I don't like them. I find no joy in them. They're no fun. Well, that's not always true, but the ones that are fun aren't really horror movies, usually.
The basic plot of a horror movie. Group of people encounter something They Were Not Meant To Know or Venture Where They Were Not Meant to Venture. Unstoppable killing begins. Most of the cast gets messily slain. At the end (maybe) Our Heroes escape, and either "kill" or lock away the evil or it gets bored and wanders off, and normalcy resumes until the next group of teenagers goes skinnydipping in the old mill pond.
See, the problem I have with horror movies is they're inherently pessimistic. There's this Big Bad Thing out there, and nothing us puny humans can do will be any good against it. It's an unstoppable force of eldrich nature, reminding us jumped up plains apes we're just monkeys to the rest of the universe. In a very gory fashion. And while the universe is undoubtedly bigger than anything dreamed of in our philosophies, that doesn't require pessimism backed up by gory death for horny teens.
The whole point of the horror movie is the futility. All the heroes can do is run, no tricksy plans, no fighting, just run. Or die. Winning is living. (Which is true in life, but when I say it, I mean something not-so-subtly different) If the heroes could do anything besides run, it wouldn't be a horror movie.
When the heroes have a boomstick that works on the Big Evil, it's not a horror movie any more. If they have a magic sword, or a talisman, or just the guts and luck to stand up and survive, it's not a horror movie. The entire movie changes into something different. Humans aren't the helpless prey any more, now it's predator against predator, with humans doing their best to prove why we became the biggest badass hunters on the planet (who then proceeded to invent civilization and domesticate ourselves, but) It's dark adventure, or comedy, or something similar and to my mind, much more fun. But once the dynamic stops being futility and flight of powerless primates, it's not horror, even if parts of it are horrifying. But the monkeys have a fighting chance.
And I like those kinds of movies much better.
Technorati Tags: Mindscribbles, Me, Movies
But, honestly, I don't like them. I find no joy in them. They're no fun. Well, that's not always true, but the ones that are fun aren't really horror movies, usually.
The basic plot of a horror movie. Group of people encounter something They Were Not Meant To Know or Venture Where They Were Not Meant to Venture. Unstoppable killing begins. Most of the cast gets messily slain. At the end (maybe) Our Heroes escape, and either "kill" or lock away the evil or it gets bored and wanders off, and normalcy resumes until the next group of teenagers goes skinnydipping in the old mill pond.
See, the problem I have with horror movies is they're inherently pessimistic. There's this Big Bad Thing out there, and nothing us puny humans can do will be any good against it. It's an unstoppable force of eldrich nature, reminding us jumped up plains apes we're just monkeys to the rest of the universe. In a very gory fashion. And while the universe is undoubtedly bigger than anything dreamed of in our philosophies, that doesn't require pessimism backed up by gory death for horny teens.
The whole point of the horror movie is the futility. All the heroes can do is run, no tricksy plans, no fighting, just run. Or die. Winning is living. (Which is true in life, but when I say it, I mean something not-so-subtly different) If the heroes could do anything besides run, it wouldn't be a horror movie.
When the heroes have a boomstick that works on the Big Evil, it's not a horror movie any more. If they have a magic sword, or a talisman, or just the guts and luck to stand up and survive, it's not a horror movie. The entire movie changes into something different. Humans aren't the helpless prey any more, now it's predator against predator, with humans doing their best to prove why we became the biggest badass hunters on the planet (who then proceeded to invent civilization and domesticate ourselves, but) It's dark adventure, or comedy, or something similar and to my mind, much more fun. But once the dynamic stops being futility and flight of powerless primates, it's not horror, even if parts of it are horrifying. But the monkeys have a fighting chance.
And I like those kinds of movies much better.
Technorati Tags: Mindscribbles, Me, Movies
